Kill Or Be Killed - the 97th Hunger Games
by Phoenix-Jay
Summary: 24 tributes, put together in one arena. Teenagers forced to fight to the death for the Capitol's entertainment. Only the best will survive. In the arena, it's kill or be killed. (SYOT Open, 17/24 tributes taken)(Rated T because its the Hunger Games.)
1. Prologue

_President Leta Shade_

"Antonia? I'm ready for him now."

My young assistant darts out of the room to fetch Maximus Kyfall, the Head Gamemaker. Young- younger than most Gamemakers, and the youngest Head Gamemaker ever- but unarguably one of the best. It's a mere two days before the Reapings, so I have summoned him for my annual meeting to discuss the Games. Usually, I want to know about the arena and the traps it might hold. Ideas for mutts, too. His last two games have been spectacular, with original arenas and twists that no-one saw coming. Though in my opinion, it's the tributes that make the Games what they are. If the tributes are too stereotypical or just plain boring, then it doesn't matter if the arena is the best there has been. The games will almost always flop. These past two years, Kyfall has been lucky with his tributes.

There's a knock on the door, and I call, "Enter." As the door opens, I look up from my work. "Ah, Mr Kyfall. Please, take a seat." He does so, and I continue with my work until he says, "Well, I must say, it's an honour to be here, President Shade." I have to refrain from rolling my eyes. I hear almost the exact same words every time anyone comes. Really, it gets boring after a while.

I waste no time getting down to business. "Kyfall, I expect you think you are here to explain your arena to me?"

Promptly, he replies, "I had thought so, yes. After all, it's what you've asked from me for the last two years. If not that, what am I here for?"

One of the reasons I like Kyfall as a person is that he doesn't appear to be frightened of me. Past presidents would have people executed for simply looking at them the wrong way, and unfortunately some people think I would do the same. Not many people would dar to ask me a question without permission.

"I brought you here because I have a proposition for you." I stand up and walk over to the window. It's a lovely day outside, sunny and warm. "Of course, you would know that the first centenary of the Hunger Games is fast approaching us."

"I do know that, and I would be surprised if anyone didn't."

"Your Games have been nothing short of spectacular so far. I believe that you could possibly- only possibly, mind you- be good enough to be the Head Gamemaker for the 100th Hunger Games." He doesn't say anything, so I continue speaking. "But in order to be able to know for sure, I feel that I need to watch this Games with no idea what may happen. If I like it enough, I would pick you to be the Head."

Immediately, he picks up on my choice of words. "Pick me? Who else would you pick?"

I turn to face him. "After this year, you will have to step down for two years and be a normal Gamemaker. I would like to trial two others."

His voice betrays no emotion. "Who?"

"Your predecessor, Roman Ignis. His games were also excellent. And my niece, Ophelia. I feel she would be a good fit for the role of Head Gamemaker."

"I would agree with both of those. Roman is a friend, and a far better Head than me. He only stopped because of health problems. Ophelia's only worked on the games for three years, and is already a senior Gamemaker."

I feel a surge of relief. "Then you accept my offer?"

He gets up, ready to leave. "I do. As for these Hunger Games..." He gives a short laugh. "I can assure you, President Shade, that they will not disappoint."

I return to my desk. "I hope they don't. You may leave, Kyfall."

**Hey there! Thanks for deciding to read my SYOT. It's the first one I've written, and I'm actually really excited to start. If you would like to submit tributes, the form is in my bio, please send them by PM. You can submit up to three. I will operate on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to reserve a tribute, then PM me. A reservation will hold for 72 hours, so that's three days.**

**I think that's everything, so see you at the reapings!**


	2. Note

So yeah. It's been a while (understatement much?) since I last updated, and I'm really sorry about that. I'm actually going to be kinda... restarting the fic. I've thought of a different way of writing it that should make it easier and quicker when it comes to me updating. Only time will tell.

Any tributes that have already been submitted are still being used, don't worry! However, I'll need a lot of tributes to be submitted before the Reapings can begin. The form and tribute list are still on my profile. Happy creating I guess, and I'll see y'all for the Reapings!


	3. Reapings 1

_**Felix Austus, Capitol Citizen**_

"Felixfelixfelixfelixfelix!"

A small, shouting four-year old runs into me as soon as I come into the house. I laugh and slow-motion stagger backwards into the sofa. "Aah! You got me!" She giggles and climbs up onto the sofa with me. "What is it, Juno?"

"Have you seen the Reapings yet? Have you?"

"No, but that's because I was down at the museum. We were really busy today, showing people around. I'm not sure if that's because of the Games or because a victor was there." I work at the Hunger Games museum as a tour guide. They were showing the Reapings on TVs dotted around, but as a tour guide I was generally moving around so only ended up watching snippets.

"There was a victor? Which one? Were they pretty?"

Typical Juno. My younger sister is obsessed with all things pretty and sparkly at the moment. She's currently idolising Velvetina Damine, a victor from District One who designs beautiful dresses for young girls in the Capitol.

I put my arm round her and search for the remote. My family have enough money, but we aren't super-rich so can't afford the newer televisions, which are voice activated with no remote. "It was Rhea Ligula. She's from District

Two, and won the year you were born. Lots of people are still crazy over her. As for pretty, she's not unattractive, but probably doesn't measure up to your beauty standards for victors." I finally spot the remote under the coffee table and pick it up. "Anyway, would you like to watch the Reapings now?"

"Yes, duh! I wanted to watch them while they were on properly but Mommy doesn't like me watching tv all day so she made me switch it off before the Reapings started."

"Oh." I switch the tv on. Luckily, it's already on the right channel for the Reapings. "Does Mom want to come and watch?"

"She's in her room with a migraine. But she has a tv in there so she can watch it if she wants, can't she?"

Looking after Juno for the entire day when she's running at this fever pitch of excitement would be enough to give anyone a migraine. Poor Mom. Sometimes Dad is around to help, but he works as a Gamemaker. For the next few weeks we'll hardly see him.

"Yeah, of course she can. Now, let's be quiet for the Reapings, yes?"

She quiets down as the anthem begins to play.

First up is District One, as usual. The tributes from here tend to be beautiful volunteers. Careers, also: for all their beauty, they can be surprisingly vicious. The first tribute volunteers before the escort even gets a chance to call the Reaped tribute. She's a tall, short-haired blonde called Goldena Powers. Unusually for One, she isn't wearing a dress like most girls, instead opting for a fancy sweater and jeans. She's young for a volunteer, I'd guess fifteen or sixteen. When she speaks to the escort, her charisma is instantly obvious.

Her district partner volunteers to a cacophony of screaming and cheering. The crowd are a lot more enthusiastic than they would be for a normal volunteer. I mean, he's good-looking enough- tall and muscular, with brown hair; his suit is pretty nice too- but I wouldn't have thought his looks would get the crowd cheering like they are.

The beaming escort trills, "Excellent! Another volunteer! What's your name, young man?"

He replies, "My name is Finn Whisson, and I'm the son of the victor Rasmus Whisson."

While the son-of-victor part explains the excessive cheering, I'm not focusing on that. I could have imagined it, but Goldena almost seems to snort when he says his name, and Finn's face clouds for a moment before they both return to their happy, smiling faces. Huh. That's interesting. I wonder why? They could be academy rivals, or maybe exes, although Finn looks to be eighteen so he's a bit older than her. It could be anything, really.

Next the cameras turn to District Two, known for masonry and killer tributes.

The girl might be an exception to that rule. Nika Bardsley is pretty, with shoulder-length ginger hair, a rounded face and striking blue eyes that stand out when the cameras get a shot of her face- really, she's almost District One pretty- but when she comes up to the stage amidst clapping and the escort asks her questions, her answers are monosyllabic. Short and not particularly sweet. Her red dress shows her slim build, and while there is muscle there, I wouldn't say there's as much as you'd get on your average Two tribute. Still, she's a volunteer and her short answers reveal that she's the adoptive daughter of Rey Bardsley, a victor. I'm not entirely sure what to make of her.

The male tribute is, unsurprisingly, also a volunteer, but doesn't come across as your typical Two meathead either. He matches Nika in red, which sets off his dark hair nicely, but his clothes are completely trashed. Artfully so, so I think he's making a fashion statement. It's one way to grab attention.

Up on the stage, he says, "Hey everyone, I'm Matthias Lane. I was planning on making a joke about gallows humour, but then I thought, what's the point? You'll see me in a month or so!" He winks at Nika. "Sorry, Nicki. I'll try not to kill ya, but I'm making no promises."

She stares right back at him. "You'll be needing that gallows humour if you call me Nicki again."

It's the most words she's said so far, and I find myself laughing with the crowd onscreen and Matthias. Nika allows herself a smile before the escort takes charge of the situation.

I just decided I like these two.

The District Three Reapings are next.

The girl tribute is short and skinny, probably on the older side, and her name is Lyla McKay. Her straight black hair is in a ponytail, and she's wearing a white blouse, a black skirt, and a pair of amazingly cool black combat boots that I would wear in a heartbeat.

She doesn't really react to being reaped. She just nods and walks up onto the stage. Her face is wiped clean of any emotion and she only speaks when spoken to. Polite enough, but her voice is emotionless too.

"That girl is creepy!" Juno declares, pointing at the screen. "She's not _doing _anything!"

"You're not wrong," I tell her. She's just summed Lyla up. Though creepy or not, I'll be watching her in the arena. I wonder if her lack of emotion will extend to killing?

A chubby boy called Nyan Poltrii is reaped for the male tribute. He stands there, pale as snow, before the boy next to him calls out, "I volunteer as tribute!" I think they might be brothers, they look kinda similar apart from the weight difference.

The volunteer walks up to the stage, with Nyan tugging on his arm and trying to reason with him, tears rolling down his face. Almost certainly brothers, then. Nyan just doesn't stop, so a Peacekeeper has to be called to restrain him. I look over at Juno, who looks a bit upset over Nyan. "Hey, don't be sad. That kid's just overreacting a bit. Look, the volunteer isn't upset, is he?" He's blinking a lot, but it's probably not best to point that out to Juno.

"Would you volunteer for me, Felix?"

"I'll never have to. We're from the Capitol, remember? We're the good guys, who don't have to go to the Hunger Games!"

"But would you?" She whines, with puppy-dog eyes.

I laugh at her. "With those eyes? I wouldn't have a choice."

She beams, all sadness forgotten. "Yay!"

While we've been talking, the District Three Reapings have been continuing. The escort says, "Ladies and gentlemen, your tributes Lyla McKay and Link Poltrii!" Hah! I was right, him and Nyan are related.

Now it's the District 4 Reapings. The girl is a volunteer called Azora Marquisse, who looks to be a typical Career. She's tall and tanned, with her brown hair in a fancy updo. She's wearing a white dress with blue heels and a blue necklace.

As for volunteering, she appears just as eager as the District One tributes. Admittedly, she does look a little nervous when she's stood on stage in front of the crowd, but she still appears to be very happy, almost ecstatic. Of course she is. For people like her, there would be no greater honour than to volunteer for the Games. Personally, I find it slightly odd how happy the Career districts are to sacrifice some of their strongest children. I mean, they do know that at least one of them will die, right? And yet they still do it, year after year.

Juno appears to idolise Azora. I mean, I'm not sure if she's idolising her or her dress, but she's staring at the screen with a look of admiration in her face. Then she turns to me and says, "Do you think she's pretty? I think she's pretty. And she volunteered, and her dress is so nice, and she's speaking nicely which is better than the other pretty girl from Two because she didn't speak much and-"

I put my hand over her mouth. "Juno, shut up or you'll miss the rest!" I tell her. She jerks her head away and smiles apologetically. "Sorry."

"It's fine." I turn my attention back to the screen, where the male tribute is being Reaped. The escort calls for a Matthew Bass, who the cameras find quickly. What is weird is that there's no volunteer. There might be one later, but Careers do tend to volunteer early. Matthew doesn't appear to be Career material. He's wearing a casual t-shirt and shorts, with no shoes for some reason, when Careers tend to get pretty dressed up for the Reaping. The biggest giveaway is that he isn't going up to the stage straight away. No, he pauses for a moment, looking shocked, before walking to the stage attempting to not show any emotion. He's doing a pretty good job, to be fair, but he has gone a bit pale.

Once he's up on the stage, the escort asks for volunteers, but none come forward. That's pretty unusual for a Career District. However, Four has been known to have non-career tributes, so evidently Matthew is one of these. It'll be interesting to see what happens with him.

**So, that's the first part of the Reapings done! There'll be three chapters for the Reapings, each with four districts. Next up is 5, 6, 7, and 8. I still need a lot of tributes to be able to write the next chapter, so please keep sending them in! One note: I am no longer accepting volunteer tributes. The Careers districts are all done, and I already have enough non-career tributes who are volunteers. So yeah. Sorry if you were planning on sending in a volunteer, I guess. **

**I'll see ya for the next round of Reapings!**


End file.
